REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION AT ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN MONDAY 7 DECEMBER 1998
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT A RECEPTION AT ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN MONDAY 7 DECEMBER 1998
Firstly I’d like to say a warm hello to everybody here this evening for the ‘official’ start of Christmas at the Áras. I would like to thank you for taking time off from work, or school (or from the Christmas shopping!) to find your way up to the Áras in the dark on this damp December evening.
And I know that some of you have travelled quite a distance to be with us – from Antrim, from Wexford, Donegal, Armagh, Wicklow, Derry, Belfast, Kerry, Down, Tipperary, Monaghan, Meath, Dundalk – and some have even struggled up from Dublin to be with us. To all of you let me say how pleased I am that you could come and brighten up our Christmas at the Áras.
You’ll be delighted I am sure that we have managed to get not one, but two choirs to give that essential festive touch to the evening. We are privileged indeed to have choirs from St. Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon in County Tyrone, and Wesley College in Dublin - both of whom are coming together in a unique performance just for us this evening.
Christmas means many things to people. For most people in Ireland, it has a very real religious significance as the anniversary of the birth of Christ. The festival of Christmas has its origins in the traditions of the Jewish religion in Hanukah - the festival of Lights – which members of our Jewish community celebrate in late December each year. While both have their strong and separate religious meanings, both are occasions when people make that special effort to link up with family and friends so that they can celebrate and bring some light into their lives. This evening we are doing just that – we are gathering as family – coming from the four corners of Ireland – and celebrating Christmas in the best way we know
So we are pleased to have our Irish family and friends with us this evening to start the ball rolling – and to bring a little cheer to all of our lives as we switch on the Christmas Tree Lights outside. I would like to wish each of you a very happy Christmas for 1998 – and the hope that wherever you will be over the festive season that you have warmth, love and happiness with your loved ones – and that 1999 brings you good fortune and happiness that will last well into the new millennium which will be exercising all our minds over the coming year.
The choirs have taken up position beside the tree - and waiting for us to join them for the countdown to lighting up!. So, I’d like to invite you all to join me outside at the portico while we switch on the lights – and enjoy the choirs as they give us a flavour of Christmas with a carol or two.
Afterwards, I have no doubt that you will want to make a hasty retreat back into the house where you can see the formal rooms - and get an appreciation for what this house means to all of us in Ireland. I know that for me, the house is a symbol of our shared histories. It tells its own fascinating story – a story that spans several centuries – and which is preserved to this day in its art and architecture – it is not just a home – it is a place for all traditions and cultures on this island to share.
I said in my inauguration speech that the theme of my Presidency is ‘Building Bridges’. Over the course of my term of office, Martin and I intend to continue to use Áras an Uachtaráin as a place where links can be forged between people and communities – and where traditions and beliefs can be respected and celebrated. With all the families represented here this evening there is plenty of opportunity to build new bridges – and perhaps forge new links. But it is an occasion to relax and enjoy where you are – and to take in as much as you can while you are here. I’m delighted that you could come – and I sincerely hope that you enjoy yourselves.